Opinion Editorials

Denver Post: Thanks, Mike Coffman

The American Health Care Act of 2017 is a bad bill and we thank Colorado's Rep. Mike Coffman, the Aurora Republican, for standing up against his party's plan to "fix" Obamacare.

It was a tough vote for the conservative former Marine, made evident by the intense lobbying effort to sway his vote.

Ultimately Coffman's vote to repeal and replace Obamacare didn't matter, but his stance on ensuring that those with pre-existing conditions can afford insurance under the Republican plan was the right thing to do. It was a bold move even as President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence called him to try and win his vote.

Yes, it's possible Coffman got a pass from Republican leaders once enough votes were secured, but that's not how he described the days leading up to the vote Thursday.

We also remember Coffman pledged to stand up to Trump, and Thursday he did.

Coffman made clear to leadership what it would take to win his support — an amendment limiting how much more those with pre-existing conditions could be charged for coverage. The now infamous amendment offered by Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., prohibited insurance companies from denying people coverage because of their medical history; however, it allows insurers to charge anything they'd like to patients who have lapses in coverage. And states can get waivers that allow insurers to deny coverage as long as the state has a high-risk pool established for those unable to get coverage. Colorado's high-risk pool that ran between 2010 and 2014 proved much more expensive than expected, as did federally subsidized pools in other states.

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People frequently suffer lapses in coverage, including low-income individuals who are switching jobs and can't afford bridge coverage before their new employer-sponsored insurance kicks in.

Republicans should get credit for trying to fix America's broken health care system, which is consistently ranked the most expensive while featuring health outcomes worse than many other wealthy nations.

Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and then for the next seven years called it good, despite many problems with the law and its implementation.

However, we're disappointed in the plan House Speaker Paul Ryan brought forward with Trump. We've never supported repeal of the ACA. Ryan's plan leaves much to be desired. Significantly it reduces Medicaid funding — federal money that helps support state-run insurance programs for low-income and disabled individuals — without any kind of a plan for how states should make up the difference. Tax subsidies for those who can afford health insurance on the private market are based on age, not income, hurting those with fewer resources more, and those who are priced out of insurance the most.

We find it surprising that so many Republicans in the U.S. House — 217, to be exact — would support a major overall of Medicaid and America's health insurance regulations without first getting an updated budget report. The first budget report on the bill before major amendments were made this week was bleak in terms of how many people would lose insurance.

Among those voting on this bad bill without a budget report were Colorado Reps. Scott Tipton, Doug Lamborn and Ken Buck. We now look to the Senate with hope lawmakers there can propose a decent alternative and clean up the mess Tipton, Lamborn and Buck supported.

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